I've been using LLA for years with cast bullets, but I've never tried it with jacketed. I guess you'd coat the bullets before you loaded them, but I'd be interested to see how much scrapes off during the bullet seating process. With cast bullets we flare the mouth of the case so that we won't scrape the lead. However, the three bands on a Barnes TTX might hold lube just fine.

No lube of any kind should be used on jacketed bullets. The wave that stuff builds up as the bullet pushes it in front of it going down the barrel will sometimes "ring" the barrel. That means the barrel steel gets permanently bulged at that point.

Rain water's often the cause of ringed barrels in hunting rifles. Leaving the oil you put in after cleaning it to protect it from corrosion is another cause.

The only lube I know of that can be on a bullet when its shot is the special lanolin mixture Sierra Bullets uses on their copper bullet jackets they're made then stuffed with lead cores and finally pointed at the last stage of production. 10 are grabbed as they fall out of the pointing machine into a barrel then seated in resized, primed and charged cases to test in their rail guns. That lanolin mixture does not cause problems 'cause it's very, very thin.

When we hunted squirrels with .22 shorts when I was a kid, they (bullets) had some kind of wax on them. After a day in your pocket the bullets had all kind of fuzz and lint sticking to them. I think these were cast bullets. What about molly-coating?

I'm not talking about heavy wax lube, just auto wax that has been applied, then had the residue wiped off. It's hard and bonds pretty well to metal. I wonder whether bullet manufacturers do it already, to prevent oxidation.

I have some soft paste wax, including neutral shoe polish that I normally use as a release compound for epoxy-bedding (best ever). I'll try them both, to see if there's any difference in velocity or fouling in my .270. Barnes TSX bullets were the worst at fouling my barrel, but I don't have many left, so I'll try the Hornady GMX first.

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